She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy
by BornThisBlonde-FarFromCreative
Summary: An almost AU and almost cannon version of how Lily and James finally got together, and how their friends fared the ride. J/L, S/OC, OC/OC
1. The One with the Party

**A/N **Being new to writing fanfiction, we would appreciate your comments highly, so please review and make our day :) Hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **Even if we would love to confess that THE J.K Rowling has finally transferred to fanfiction, but no. We're just two 18-year-olds procrastinating on their homework

* * *

**Sirius**

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK, GET YOUR LAZY ARSE OUT OF BED RIGHT NOW! WE HAVE MARAUDING TO DO, YOU LAZY SHIT!"

Merely flipping his pillow to now cover his head, Sirius Black gave no indication of having heard the obnoxiously loud wake-up call. It was his birthday after all, shouldn't that give him the right to dictate his own waking up? Sighing contently he answered his own rhetorical question, wiggling just a little deeper into his plush, warm bed. Maybe if he tried hard enough he could get back to the dream he had been having about a motorcycle and a very pretty blonde girl, whose face he just could not place.

Concentrating on the blonde's beautiful Caribbean blue eyes and the hum of the motor next to them, Sirius completely missed the familiar creak of the floorboards next to his bed. The next instant his whole body hit the solid wooden floor with a thud. Even in his semi-unconscious state, his body reacted faster than his mind. He immediately bounced upright, his eyes snapping open, looking for his wand and the imminent threat, a hand coming up to push his dark hair out of his eyes. Instead of finding a Death Eater like he expected, he immediately relaxed as his eyes came across a tall boy with messy jet black hair, hazel eyes framed with delicate wired glasses and a triumphant grin on his face.

"Oh shove off Prongs." Sirius said tiredly. Looking around the room, this time concentrating just a bit more, he added as an afterthought: "What in Merlin's name did you do to my bed?"

Of all the days for his best friend to violently wake him up, this was just not that day. You would think James Potter would be just a bit more sensitive to other people's wishes now that he was made Head Boy. Evans sure as hell was not going to condone this type of behavior. With an amused smirk he watched James's expression twist into a vulnerably confused one, as he voiced these thoughts.

Sirius really had been happy for James when his best friend had received the news. He was extremely proud of his very own Prongsie, but mostly and above all, he had found the entire situation hilarious. James Potter, the trouble causing, arrogant boy was not only made Quidditch Captain in their seventh year, but also Head Boy! The irony was definitely not lost on Sirius, a fact he pointed out every chance he could.

"Come on Padfoot, play nice. It's not every day my best friend comes of age! Now, go take a shower, we don't have time for breakfast… or would it be called lunch after 12 PM? Remind me to ask Evans… HEY! That could be a great conversation starter! I could just sit there and listen to her talk, I could see those beautiful lips move and oh holy Merlin, I could watch her emerald eyes bore into me with such intent and purpose. God I love that girl. By the way, have I told you that she's going to be mine this year? Ummm… But yeah... Anyway, we're going to go get all the supplies that we need for the party tonight. I did tell you that almost everyone from Hogwarts is coming over? I did. Great. So Mooney's going to be here in five, oh no wait, three minutes, so put a shirt on, yeah? And preferably a clean pair of boxers."

Effectively finishing his soliloquy and not waiting for an answer from his supposed best friend, James Potter left the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

_Really? That boy just couldn't go through one conversation without mentioning Evans. He really was whipped… No way in Merlin's left sock would that happen to him. Ever. _Sighing at his best friend's predicament, he moved towards the bathroom, mentally preparing himself for a day full of boisterous laughter and lots of fit women. _So pretty much just the usual_, he thought with a smirk to himself.

* * *

**Lily**

Promising herself to never trust her friends again, Lily dutifully added some more mascara to her light ginger lashes. _At least Nathan will be there. He'll keep the git away from me_, Lily thought about her boyfriend, Nathaniel Scott, morosely moving onto lathering on a sheer pink lip gloss. She just could not fathom why her friends hated her this much, dragging her to Sirius Black's party. Not that she had anything against Black, or Remus Lupin or even little Peter Pettigrew. She was actually on very good terms with Remus, having been a prefect with him for the past two years. He was one of the kindest, sweetest and most intelligent people she knew, and probably one of her closest friends from Gryffindor, even though he was a so called 'Marauder'. But Potter, ugh... He was just a big-headed, toerag. And well, to put it mildly, they just did not get along. Their very public shouting matches were only the tip of the iceberg. Why her friends wanted to take her to _his_ house during her short time of relaxation without him, was beyond her.

Looking into the mirror in front of her, Lily laid aside all thoughts about Potter and focused on examining her appearance. Her auburn hair fell in soft curls just below her shoulder blades and, for once, she had paid attention to her makeup, accentuating her striking green eyes.

"You think this dress is too... cheap?" Lily twirled around to find one of her two best friends, Adrienne Rosemary - Rose to everyone but the professors, posing behind her in a short black dress.

"Cheap is your signature look." Her other best friend Olive Miller said, winking playfully at Rose just as she finished lining her eyes with black kohl. Olive spun around in the flower patterned mini dress covering her fit, yet curvy figure: "How do I look?"

"You look gorgeous, like always." Rose replied in an assuring voice. "You both ready? Let's go!" She cried out excitedly and bounced happily out of the room. Lily took one last look in the mirror and fixed some out of place strands, before following her friends at a much calmer pace.

* * *

**Olive**

It was a warm evening. Late August nights were some of her favorites, Olive loved the smell of fall in the air. There was always a slight crispness that drew her to it, the air warm yet fresh. She was surrounded by people in the happy state of slightly tipsy. For her, the night had been a success. She had happily danced with a few guys, which was very unlike her. Usually she felt very awkward around the boys at Hogwarts, so she let Rose deal with them. After all that was something that came naturally to Rose.

She had been on the dancefloor for most of the night. Dancing was something she really enjoyed. At least after a few shots of firewhiskey as she was finally able to let go of her insecurities. The ongoing music, an upbeat disco song, came to end so she decided to head off the dancefloor to get more drinks, and some air.

She fought her way through the crowd, the air filled with the strong voice of the singer of some funk song she was not really familiar with. After pouring herself another shot of firewhiskey, she started to wander through the crowd, looking for her friends and enjoying the generally cheerful atmosphere.

Only moments later she found herself standing next to James and Peter, and listening to their conversation with half an ear, Olive let her gaze glide around the vast space. To her right were the rose bushes, beautiful and such a deep red that they reminded her of blood. Sitting on chairs by them were Lily and Nathan and by the looks of it, Nathan was boring Lily out of her mind again. _The poor girl should just dump him. No one should have to stay with someone that didn't make them happy_, Olive thought sighing to herself. _There was Lily, so full of life and passion and then there was Nathan, full of cheesy lines and facts. They really needed to hold an intervention for the girl._ On the left of the happy couple was the wide dance floor, illuminated with floating lanterns and alive with tipsily dancing young people. Amongst the crowd Olive could see both of her own roommates, Alice was dancing with Frank Longbottom. It was adorable how one could see how they only had eyes for each other. Hestia, on the other hand, was dancing with some of her Ravenclaw friends, all giggling like mad under the influence of the alcohol. Olive, Lily and Rose all liked Alice and Hestia. Alice, petite with black hair, was gentle and intelligent, but somehow they had never really bonded. Hestia, the strawberry blonde was always disappearing to hang out with her Ravenclaw friends, so they did not see a lot of her. The girls did not particularly mind, they were happy with the way things had panned out between them.

Near the edge of the mass of people Olive saw two blurry figures. Squinting her eyes, she could just barely make out the silhouettes of a girl and a boy. Both looked so painfully familiar. As the two made their way towards the small Quidditch supply shack near the edge of the yard, past the rose bushes, they passed underneath a light, illuminating their features. The boy had a handsome face, an athletic build, but his identifying feature was the hair. It was ruffled just right, passing over his face mysteriously. The hair suited him perfectly and Olive would have recognized him from a crowd of hundreds. It was Sirius Black. With him was a tall thin girl, wearing a short black dress that accentuated every curve on her body. She was not exactly the curvy type, more lean with the slightest pear shape to her. Like with the boy, the feature Olive focused on was the hair. The girl had long wavy hair that reached past her mid back. The combination was one that Olive had only seen one girl wear that day: Rose.

Nudging James, completely interrupting the conversation he was having, Olive silently pointed at the retreating figures. Recognizing their two friends, James's mouth formed a perfect 'O' as he turned to look at Olive, eyebrows raised. Without saying a word, they left a confused Peter in their wake, now only wanting to know the answer to the unspoken question: _What were Sirius and Rose doing sneaking off together towards the Quidditch shack?_

* * *

**Rose**

"You're not like other girls Rose."

Again with those six words. After hearing them constantly for the past 17 years of her life, Rose really was tired of hearing them. Ever since she was a little girl, her father would dote on her non-stop, telling her she was special every day. Thankfully back then, her brothers had been there to knock some sense into her when she became too proud, and kept her feet grounded. But it had not stopped when she arrived at Hogwarts. Her professors would incessantly remind her "that she had the potential to be an uncharacteristically strong witch, if she just applied herself" and repeat those six dreaded words. When Rose had grown into her feminine looks, the boys she consorted with would constantly call her special, trying to compliment her with those same six words.

In all honesty Adrienne Rosemary Selwyn knew exactly how good she looked in midnight blue, exactly how batting her lashes and chewing on her bottom lip drove men crazy with lust and exactly how to use this knowledge to manipulate the people around her. But lately it had just gotten too easy. What was the fun in manipulating men to chase after her if they were going to make it this easy?

Surprised that he had remembered her name, Rose was still thoroughly turned off by those six fatal words. She rather rudely shoved off the drunk boy eating her face, gave him a disgusted look and, in the tipsy state she was in, tottered off away from him.

Making her way to the drinks, her gaze swept across the Potters' illuminated backyard. Sirius Black, she noticed, was dancing with some Ravenclaw brunette and Olive was not far away, dancing with their other roommates Alice Prewett and Hestia Jones and surprisingly Remus Lupin. Lily and Nathan were conversing on a couple of chairs by the beautiful rose garden, probably discussing a boring book or another. Rolling her eyes at the two "party animals", Rose shifted her gaze to the messy haired boy standing not ten meters away from them, completely ignoring the conversation the pudgy, blonde-haired boy was trying to have with him. What was that boy's name? Rose probably would not have remembered it sober, so why even bother in the tipsy state she was in now? She knew _everyone_, and not being able to place his face bothered her. It was something like… Porter… or, Paul… or Peter… Yes! That was it! Peter Pettigrew! Silently congratulating herself, she turned around to help herself to some more firewhiskey. She felt the need to rinse her mouth after 'face-eater boy', what better way to do it than with alcohol?

Smiling in what she knew was an alluring manner, Rose asked the man in front of her to hand her one of the bottles on the table. _The best part about Marauder parties_, she thought, _were the free booze._ She knew this was mostly due to one Marauder boy in particular. Sirius Black always had a good time and ensured everyone else did too by always having enough alcohol for a small army. _Or he just wants to ensure he gets his lay-of-the-day by making certain that every female present was acceptably intoxicated. _Scoffing at his lowly tactics Rose sipped at her drink, scanning the crowd around her. The lights of the dance floor caught her attention, and suddenly all Rose cared about was downing the rest of her already half empty bottle and grinding up against some random boy.

After just a few short steps, she made it to the dance floor and up against an okay looking former Hufflepuff. Their semi-awkward dance was thankfully interrupted when a hot seventh year Gryffindor decided to cut in. Vaguely realizing she was now rubbing up against Sirius Black, Rose merely started dancing more exuberantly. Her hands wrapped backwards to hold his neck while his cupped her hips, gently and yet forcefully guiding their actions. This was nothing like dancing with the awkward Hufflepuff. This dance had harmony and more importantly heat between the two dancers. Rose could not even remember the last time a man was able to make her feel such raw, unhinged passion.

Probably experiencing similar feelings, Sirius twirled her around to face him. He slid his hands to just barely above her bum and she shifted her hands, gently running them through the hair at the nape of his neck, fingertips lighting grazing his jawline, a roguish twinkle in her eyes.

Sensing her mood Sirius pulled Rose through the crowd towards the Quidditch supply shack, just past the rose garden. Sitting himself onto the worn-out sofa in the corner, he gently tugged her into a position where she was straddling him. Anticipating his next move, Rose gave him one rule in a hoarse whisper:

"No speaking."

With a quick nod, he hungrily brought her face to his, hands snaking around her, exploring. She moved her hands to his glorious hair, making Sirius moan in the back of his throat. Rose could taste the firewhiskey on his breathe, but she didn't care. Her entire body was on fire.

How long they remained on that old ratty sofa, she did not know. Her mind did not register anything, not the time, not the place, only the man with her.

But fate had other plans for them, their bliss was interrupted by drunk splutter: "Padfoot?"

This deep voice was accompanied by another, this time female: "Rose?"


	2. The One with the Return

**A/N **So guess what? We're back, and this time with chapter two of She Think's My Tractor's Sexy. The usual routine loves, read and review ;)

**Disclaimer**: My initials are not J and K, neither are BornThisBlonde's, and my last name is not Rowling. So, you might see where I'm going here... I'm really not the super-talented and amazing JK Rowling, so everything you recognize belongs to her and the other stuff you don't recognize is kinda mine and BTB's.  
-FFC

* * *

It was September 1st. The sky was a cloudless blue, the sun was shining brightly and the birds were singing. But no one at King's Cross Station was paying any attention to the weather, though most would come up with some crap or another when it came up in the awkward small talk that took place on the platforms. It was surprisingly empty for a Thursday morning, which meant that very few non-magical people, or muggles, were around to see strangely dressed figures make their way hastily towards the stone wall between platforms nine and ten.

It was the day that hundreds of magical children and young adults made their way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for yet another school year. Upon making their way to Platform 9 ¾, each of these students came upon the magnificent view of the dark red Hogwart's Express. Whether it was their first time seeing it or their seventh, the sight of the train was breathtaking, especially when paired with the excited atmosphere around the platform. Some students were running around hugging their friends, squealing and laughing, slowly trickling towards the train. Others, mostly first years, were sticking close to their parents with frightened or nervous expressions on their faces.

Taking a moment to soak in the familiar sights, sounds and smells of the platform, Rose stopped at the edge of the platform, having just made it through the barrier. She made sure none of her friends were around, before taking in a big steadying breath. Rose was a lot of things, but very rarely sentimental. But now she found herself briefly thinking about how this was going to be her last year at school. After which they would be kicked out into the real world, where a real threat was brewing and where real responsibilities existed.

Smoothing down the hair that she had painstakingly curled that morning and hoping her makeup still looked fresh, Rose her way through the crowd pushing her cart in front of her, knowing she would be late soon if she did not get a move on. Wearing a turquoise printed bohemian dress with a nipped in waist and brown sandals with wooden soles, she felt like one of those muggle models Lily was always talking about. The print was not one of her favourites, but she liked how the color complimented her eyes and hair, which flowed down her back in silky gold curls. The mid thigh length outfit attracted a lot of attention, people were entranced by the flamboyant beauty of the girl.

All of the stares put a slight smile on her face, she definitely had not lost it. And soon it would be time to use _it_to find her some entertainment for the train ride or if all else failed, her first evening back at Hogwarts.

Stowing away her things, she started looking around in each compartment one at a time, trying to find her friends. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of fighting through masses of children and saying hi to distant acquaintances, Rose spotted the two girls in one of the compartments. One of them had bright shoulder length red hair and vivid green eyes, and the other girl had deep, mystic dark eyes with lustrous dark locks.

Coming up with an ingenious way to have a little fun with her friends, Rose quickly used the Disillusionment Charm on herself and her belongings. Silently watching her friends and waiting for the moment when neither of them were facing the compartment door, she prepared herself for the prank. Knowing this was a very Black thing to do, Rose was certain that this tiny stunt would give the school year the positive beginning it needed.

When both Lily and Olive turned towards the window in the compartment, Rose silently slipped through the sliding door. The fact that this could even be done without the girls noticing anything was unnerving. How many people had eavesdropped on their hushed conversations like this? Making her way to sit next to Olive, Rose nearly tripped because of her own feet. Rolling her eyes at her own clumsiness, she decided to wait a while before scaring her best friends. They were discussing the upcoming school year, thinking about N.E.W.T.S. and Lily's position as Head Girl.

She decided that prolonging the prank was boring, she really did not have the patience to sit still that long. An evil smile appearing on her face, Rose raised her wand and silently undid the charm she'd placed.

"Boo."

She was greeted by a glass shattering scream from her redheaded friend. Lily's large doe eyes had somehow become even larger, her eyebrows shooting into her hairline while she jumped up from her seat. Meanwhile Olive has stayed silent and scooted as far from her friend on the seat as possible, her hands had come up to cover her mouth, her eyes alight with fright. Sniggering at the looks on their faces, Rose merely stood up to put her handbag on the rack above them. Patiently waiting for her friends to acknowledge her presence, she sat back down, crossing her legs demurely. She had just straightened out her dress and put an angelic smile on her face, when two people came speeding into their compartment.

"What's wrong?! Who's hurt?!"

Of all the people for her to see within the first 20 minutes of the train ride, Rose really was not expecting to run into Sirius Black. But here he was, looking completely and utterly flustered with Peter right behind him. She watched Sirius frantically look to and fro the girls, trying to decipher what had happened from their faces. Lily no longer looked as scared as earlier, the only signs of her earlier fright being her enlarged eyes. Olive on the other hand paid no attention to the boys as she started laughing hysterically. When she did so, Rose knew her ploy had been successful. Finally calming down, Olive brought a hand to her dark curl to ruffle them a bit, first bringing the strands closer to her face and then pushing them to the back, then wiping the smudges of makeup that the laughing had caused.

Letting out a derisive snort, Rose rolled her eyes and finally spoke to the boy in front of them. "Don't give yourself a hernia, Black. We were only having a little fun."

"Well how was I supposed to know that Selwyn? For all we knew, you could have been attacked by Slytherins!" He looked so earnest in his concern.

With a tone of slight condescension, humor and coyness, she said: "It's good to know you care Black. But we're big girls, we could out hex any Slytherin any day. We don't need you guys to come and save us."

Lily decided to chime in, sensing the beginning of another battle of the wits between her friend and Black, "She's right you know, Black. If I remember correctly, we were the ones who kicked _your_asses in the duels last year." The smirk on her face had become apparent, beating the Marauders was a memory she relished and would continually remind them of. Continuing she said, "Hey, where's Remus and your toerag counterpart? I don't think I've ever seen you guys not attached at the hip."

Now it was Sirius' turn to smirk, "Ah, yes well Prongs and Moony left me and Wormy here about 10 minutes ago. Apparently they were in a hurry to get to the Prefects' meeting, Prongs thought that it really wouldn't do for him as the Head Boy to be late, you see." Giving her a wink he was about to continue, but their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of yet another boy. It was Nathan Scott.

He came in, gave Lily a light kiss on the lips and a cheerful 'hello' to lot of them, before whisking Lily away with him. He had come to fetch her for the Prefects' meeting, completely ignoring the way his girlfriend looked like a gaping fish.

* * *

James walked towards the prefect compartment with Remus by his side. Having questioned his fellow Marauder and a Gryffindor prefect about all things included in the whole 'Head Boy' -thing, he finally felt confident about his new title. Maybe he really could do it.

Still trying to figure out the finer details James opened his mouth: "So, the Heads are supposed to pretty much instruct the prefects and plan all the special events or holiday-stuff, like Halloween, and then the prefects help with the execution, right?" he rechecked and heard Remus sigh deeply behind him.

"Yeah, for the millionth time today..."

"I just want to impress Evans, is that really so bad?"

"Considering you finally get the chance after six years, no I guess not." Remus answered after thinking for a brief moment.

James still had a few more questions, but ran out of time to get the answers he needed as they arrived at the door of the prefects' compartment.

"James.." Remus started hesitance in his voice.  
"Yeah?"  
"Just don't blow it."

James smiled at his friends encouraging expression as he opened the compartment door. In the compartment, which was notably larger than the ones provided for the rest of the student body, were some prefects already chatting quietly amongst themselves. The prefects were mainly from Ravenclaw and so returned quickly to their conversations after acknowledging the presence of the two Marauders.

The compartment filled slowly as the rest of the prefects arrived, some one by one and some in louder chattering groups. Among one of the last people to arrive was the one James had waited the whole day to see. Lily Evans walked in and made James' heart flutter just the way it had for the past six years. He was already somewhat used to the feeling, but after the long summer apart he was astonished by the intensity of his feelings. James watched as Lily greeted her friends, a few younger Gryffindors, Marlene McKinnon among them. She was still dressed in her muggle clothes, a pair of light wash jeans and a floral top. The Head Girl- badge was attached to her chest, the Gryffindor's bold red and yellow clashing with the soft pastels of her own clothes. Her bright red hair was pulled away from her face with two little clips shaped as emerald flowers.

James was brutally awakened from his daydreams by Remus nudging him in the ribs and nodding towards the blonde boy standing behind Lily, watching her with adoration in his deep blue eyes, Nathan Scott. _Eurgh, I hate that bloody pillock!_James thought with a grimace, and not really acknowledging what he was doing, he rose out of his seat and cleared his throat to get the others' attention.

"Hello everyone. Welcome back from break. I really hope you had great summers, but now if it suits you, we could focus on some actual work." James said after the conversations around him quieted down. James smiled to himself as he realized that all around him he saw prefects waiting to hear what he had to say, some looked a bit sceptical, mainly the Slytherins, but still they all clearly wanted to hear him out.

"Of course Evans being made Head Girl came as a surprise to no one. But I know that my appointment as the Head Boy might come as a shock to most of you, but I'd like to assure you that this will not mean any changes to the methods used before. " James continued with a voice filled with such authority that most of the listeners were not used to hearing in his speech.

He got almost halfway done with the prefects' tasks and requirements, before Lily finally recovered from her astonishment. She couldn't believe the boy standing in front of the whole compartment full of prefects speaking about theirs tasks like he would have dealt with them for years, was the same one that had actively bullied her for six long years. She had honestly believed Black had been joking. After all she really had had no reason to believe that Dumbledore would have chosen James over all the other boys in their year.

After they released the prefects, James saw Lily say goodbye to her boyfriend who kissed her lightly before leaving the compartment and disappearing into the corridor. They were alone and suddenly James felt his mind go blank, _what was he supposed to say... sorry he'd been a jerk the past six years? Should he apologize or just let it go? How could he pretend that nothing from the past six years meant anything at all?_

Lily saved him from saying anything as she spoke first, "I can admit, I was afraid to see how you'd take this responsibility, but I must say that if you carry on like that maybe this year won't be as horrible as I dreaded." He saw a small smile on her lips that vanished as soon as it has appeared. "But remember, if you go back to your old antics, I will personally make your life a living hell." She continued with sharp seriousness in her eyes. "I'm not going to just let you get away with it all anymore, Potter. None of it."

Lily did not wait for James to answer before she pulled the compartment door open and with a flash of red hair, she was gone. James stood alone in the compartment for a few moments, awestruck, before a grin spread across his handsome features. _She complimented me!_He left the compartment with a newfound bounce in his step, ready for the start-of-the-year-prank that was sure to be waiting for him in the Marauder's compartment, feeling like nothing would be able to ruin his mood.

* * *

Lily was still slightly awed from the meeting, _how in the bloody hell was Potter Head Boy?_Maybe Dumbledore had seen all along what had just occurred in the prefects' compartment, Potter was good with leading people and could make a speech like no one else. Or then maybe Dumbledore had finally lost the last of his marbles. For the sake of her own sanity, Lily opted for option number 2.

"How did it go?"

Lily snapped out of her thoughts as she heard Olive's voice, sliding the door open to see her friends on the compartment floor playing Exploding Snap. She sat down by the door, burning her feet by stepping on the cards was not among her ideal ways to start a new school year.

"Well... I think..."  
"That horrible, huh?" Rose questioned just as the cards exploded and Olive started to laugh at her expression.

"Awful... Yup... In all honesty though, it was just weird. Potter barely looked at me and just spent the entire meeting recapping the prefects' duties like he actually knew what he was talking about. And -"

The girls just listened to Lily speak, usually when Potter was involved it was best for everyone if they kept quiet and let Lily get it out of her system. Both found ways to inconspicuously busy themselves while the Head Girl ranted, only picking up snippets of her monologue.

"I swear, Dumbledore has gone off his rocker -"

Olive was inspecting the split ends in her dark brown hair, using her nails to get rid of the ones she found. Rose sat opposite her, using a ballpoint pen she had stolen from Lily to draw random images on her arm.

"If he keeps up with his idiotic pranks and hexing, I'll probably have to ask Dumbledore for permission to resign!"

This last statement got the girls' attention. Rose vanished the pen and her drawings while Olive let her hands drop to her lap. Simultaneously looking at each other, they silently decided to continue their previous game, in attempt to hide their shocked expressions. Neither one could ever imagine their strong Lily Evans giving up something she had worked so hard for because of James Potter.

"Oh sweetie. I'm sure it won't come to that, he's not _that _big of a git. And you know, if it does come to that, you know O and I'll take care of him and his sidekicks."

"Yeah Lils, you're going to be the best Head Girl Hogwarts has ever seen! Regardless of Potter." Olive chimed in, doing her best not to cause another explosion.

* * *

After the students had enjoyed the meal and all the plates were once again clean and shone in the flickering light of the candles, a chatter filled the Hall. The ceiling showed the dark sky above the castle, dotted with bright stars and thin stripes of nearly see-through clouds. The torches lining the stone walls cast their fluttery light onto a decreasing area around them, until they died out altogether. The Great Hall was now illuminated only by the rows of smaller candles floating in the air above the four long tables. Undisturbed by the fading lights the students continued their chatter, still talking about their summer holidays, new classes and new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Vale. Sitting on the edge of the teachers' table, he could be seen in all of his mysteriousness, tall, dark and worthy of all the drool that flowed down every girl's chin when he was introduced.

The loud bang was what caught everyone's attention. And before anyone had time to register what had happened, Peter flicked his wand to start the show. Brilliant golden sparks flew around like nimble fairies, dancing around the long tables illuminating the pupils underneath them. Like tiny snitches, they flitted away just before you could reach out your hand to touch them. All of sudden, the beautiful orbs disappeared, all coming together to create a scrabbling badger, a flying eagle, a slithering snake and a roaring lion. The animals moved to their respective houses, moving across the entire lengths of the tables. The inhabitants of the Hall could not decide where to look, their own animal was magnificent and so well animated, but the other three were just as breathtakingly captivating. Everyone's eyes were the sizes of saucers, waiting for the animals to do something. Without warning, they exploded, causing the silent room to be filled with shrieks and shouts. The dust left over from the explosion moved upwards again to form the text in elegant calligraphy: _The Marauders would like to cordially welcome you all to enjoy their seventh (and sadly, last) year of mischief and mayhem! _Soon after, another text appeared below the first one:_ Yes, even you Snivellus._

James hopped onto the Gryffindor table and helped Remus climb beside him, whilst Sirius and Peter rose onto the table from the other side. The fireworks had gone off without a problem, the blazing welcome text could still be seen faintly amongst the stars in the sky of the Great Hall's ceiling.

"Dear fellow Hogwartians." James declared, with his magically strengthened voice booming over the chatter of the students, quickly silencing them. Every student's and teacher's eyes were on them, most knowing to expect great things when the Marauders made a spectacle of themselves.

"This little show was our way of welcoming you back..." James continued before Remus chipped in: "... or if you're a first grader: just saying welcome!"

"As many of you older student may know: this will be the last year of our career in this castle." Sirius pronounced with faked sadness covering his handsome features.

"What Padf... _Sirius_is trying to say is: this year will be something you've never seen nor experienced before." Peter explained smiling nervously at all the eyes on him.

"This is our promise to you." Declared James pompously. After a dramatic pause, he continued, followed by Peter, Remus and finally Sirius ending their speech.

"We will, not that it has much to do with us as the Marauders, but _we will_play Quidditch, like never before."

"We will provide you with top quality entertainment, like never before."

"We will put all the lessons we've learned to a good use this year, like never before."

"And we will, well let's be honest here... mainly _I_,will charm the girls like never before."

Sirius ended their little speech and they all returned to their seats after bowing while the Great Hall erupted in laughter, cheers and applause. Their fellow Gryffindors clapped their backs as they passed by and the big smiles stayed on their faces for the rest of the night.

"Well done gentlemen, job well done. Now... what's next?"

* * *

Lily felt happy, finally sitting on her old bed in their old dormitory with her best friends. Olive sat on the bed beside hers flipping through a pile of Daily Prophets, as she couldn't read them during the holidays. Her other best friend, Rose, stood by her trunk and was digging her way through it, clearly looking for something. Pieces of clothing, parchment and broken quills flew around her as she finally seemed to find what she was looking for. Shielding the mystery item from her friends, Rose went to the bathroom. No one said anything about her mysterious actions, they were used to her randomly disappearing and then appearing again shortly after. An array of clanging and banging was heard from the bathroom, the water was turned on repeatedly and after what seemed like forever to Olive and Lily, Rose came out.

Rose had gathered her long blonde tresses into a messy updo, which was secured with a bright headband. She had taken off her school robes, and was now wearing an airy off the shoulder dress with long, light sleeves and a vine of flowers climbing across her chest. The bohemian style dress flowed down to her mid thighs exposing her long toned legs.

"Hey, Rose?" Olive suddenly lifted her head out of the newspapers and turned towards her friends.

"Yeah..?"

"Something going on with you and Mr. Black? and I'm not talking about Regulus, if you know what I mean." Olive smiled deviously as Lily jumped around to glare Rose: "What? What's going on?"

Rose shrugged nonchalantly, "Nothing, really. It was just snogging, you know?"

"Just _snogging_?" Lily cried out and bounced back onto her bed excitedly. "When did this happen? How?"  
Before Rose had time to answer Lily asked one last question: "Was he good?"

"He was great actually," Rose said cracking a smile. "His reputation really doesn't lie, I was shocked. But before you get carried away, I was drunk. And while it was fantastic, it's not going to happen again. You know relationships just aren't my style."

Both Lily and Olive smiled knowingly, relationships definitely were not for Adrienne Rosemary Selwyn but they still loved her. The girls had learned not to question what their friend did during her evenings off, trusting that Rose would tell them if something interesting happened. So they let her leave the room, looking for her next victim, Olive explaining how James and she had unfortunately walked in on their best friends.

* * *

**A/N** Yeah we know this was just like a filler, had to get them to school somehow.. we promise the next one will have a biiit more action in it ;)  
-BTB


	3. The One with the CHOO CHOO!

**A/N:**So we're on chapter three of STMTS, sorry for creating a title that's such a mouthful! But yes, we really, really want to thank everyone viewing this story! Next step, some reviews please? :) We're finally getting to the parts that we really enjoyed writing, so we hope you enjoy reading just as much!

**Disclaimer:**Is "J.K Rowling" actually code for two 18 year-old high school students from Finland? Nope.. Didn't think so...

* * *

Glancing at the watch on his wrist Remus realized he had been in the library for over three hours, their first week back had been gruesome. The teachers had shown the N.E.W.T students no mercy, giving them homework like never before, beginning on the first day of classes. He had gotten so caught up in the newest essay he was doing for Slughorn, that he had not noticed time fly. _Sirius was right, I am turning into a bookworm_, Remus thought grimacing at the fact that his first official Saturday back had turned into a study-fest. Somehow he was just drawn to books and work, finding solace in solving problems that he knew he had answers to.

Figuring it was time to find his friends and let loose a little, Remus stretched his stiff limbs, hearing his joints pop with the motion. He stuffed his books unceremoniously into his bag, which he swung onto his shoulder as he strolled out of the library. Heading towards the Gryffindor tower, he wondered whether the rest of the Marauders would be there or whether they were still stuffing their faces with lunch in the Great Hall. He had apparently skipped lunch, a fact his grumbling stomach was now reminding him of.

Remus found his friends lounging on the couches of the Gryffindor Common Room, by the fire. Prongs was staring across the room at Lily, Wormtail was browsing through a copy of Quidditch Weekly and Padfoot was inspecting the Marauders Map on his lap.

"Hey guys."

"Oy Moony! Where have you been? Pleaaaase tell me you were snogging some hot Ravenclaw." Padfoot greeted him with his signature smirk plastered on his face.

"Yeah, that's what the library is really for." Remus shrugged.

"Prongs! I believe it's time for us to visit the library!" Sirius shouted, jumping up from his seat, the map now lying forgotten on the ground.

Not having listened to the ongoing conversation James lifted his head. "Huh?"

"Library. Girls. Snogging. Comprendeís?"

"How come that has never been the case when I've been in the library?" Asked Peter looking confused.

Remus awkwardly patted him on the head, "Don't worry Wormtail, you're not the only one... Plus I suspect that the librarian won't appreciate Prongs' and Padfoot's efforts as much as they think..."

"Well there's an easy way to take care of that, Moony my boy. I'm just going to snog dear old Pince first." Sirius said in all seriousness.

"Did we actually have something to do today, or are we going to spend the night listening to Padfoot dream of older women _again_?" James asked clearly disgusted of Sirius' excitement.

"I'm feeling hungry, kitchens?"

"For once, I agree with Padfoot's insatiable hunger. The kitchens it is!" Remus conceded, listening to the painful noises his abdomen was making.

After the long and tortuous journey of walking from the Gryffindor Tower to the kitchens, Remus was more than happy to see the house elves hyper, as usual. Soon they sat around a small table, which was struggling to hold the overflowing amounts of food piled on top of it. It was laden with everything from kidney pies to treacle tart, butterbeer and pork chops. For the first half hour, the group sat in silence, each cramming as much of the delicious food into their mouths as possible. James was the first one to be done, letting out a grunt, he pushed his now empty plates away from himself. Remus shortly followed, wondering if it was possible to burst from too much food. Sirius and Peter just kept at it, Pete hogging the entire plate of cheeses in his lap.

"We should definitely do this more often." Sirius said after letting out an enormous belch and rubbing his flat stomach.

"Oh yeah, because otherwise we might starve to death... There's never enough food in the Great Hall." James replied sarcastically.

"You know what I've been taught? Never say never. Someday, the day may come when there's no more food. I don't want to be the one to starve of a food apocalypse... wouldn't do good for my looks."

"Right, well have you thought about what too _much_food will do to you Padfoot? I've heard that girls don't particularly enjoy someone who has to roll themselves around the castle, if you catch my drift." Remus mocked.

"What? Me? Fat? I'd rather try to kill Peter than become undesirable to the ladies!"

"I think I should stop hanging out with you... I'd really like to stay alive and we all know that the girls will at some point realize Padfoot really has nothing to offer." Peter remarked, and ducked under the table as Sirius sent a piece of pork flying towards him.

Remus and James guffawed at their friends' antics, earning both a solid smack in the face with some leftover pie.

"Moony, Wormy, how would you like to teach this dog some manners?" James said with a wicked grin on his face.

"I really, really, really don't like where this is going. _Really._"

"Lesson one: always be a gentleman. For example, Mr. Padfoot, how would you like some more pumpkin juice?" James continued.

"Well now that you ask, I am still rather thirsty." Sirius replied, not sure where his friend's sudden kindness was coming from.

"It will be my pleasure to help with that." Peter said catching on quickly, pouring a now full goblet of juice on Sirius' head. Padfoot shrieked and jumped up to his feet, quickly making his way towards the door.

"My hair! My beautiful, luscious hair!" The screams almost burst their eardrums as Sirius retreated, suddenly he shut up and turned around with a devious smile on his face, forgetting all about the juice in his hair. "You know, this gives me an idea... We should make the ceiling in the Great Hall rain pumpkin juice on the Slytherins. I'm thinking Monday morning? What do you say? Yes, no, to be confirmed?"

"To be confirmed." Remus said in a somewhat tired voice. He lazily flicked his wand to clean the juice out of Sirius' hair, put the dirty plates in a reasonable pile and vanished all the leftover food. He always felt guilty leaving so much for the house elves to do.

They sat in relative silence, each daydreaming about different things. James was obviously thinking about Lily, Peter probably thinking about the cheese he had just consumed and Remus could not read the expression on Sirius' face. Whatever it was, Padfoot would tell them soon enough.

As Remus expected, Sirius broke the silence.

"I have a proposition for you blokes."

"What is it this time Padfoot? A midnight rendezvous with Minnie? Or Snivellus perhaps?" James asked in a voice that was both curious and detached at the same time.

Remus could tell that while he was there in body, James was still mentally in Lily-land. He gently nudged the boy, hoping to bring him out of the apparently depressing revere. James had been depressed enough over the summer, with Lily still dating the smooth-talking charmer that Scott was. He couldn't see how she could ever be happy with the guy. James himself was just so much more interesting and actually cared about Lily, seeing so many things to love about her that did not revolve around her external beauty. He sighed, knowing it did no good to brood, so he took Remus' hint and turned his attention back to his friends.

"Well, I was thinking -" Sirius started.

"That's never good." murmured Peter.

"We are having a party tonight!"

"But Padfoot, we just celebrated your birthday with a party..." Remus reminded him.

"Oh I know, but since when is hosting a party a _bad_idea? And anyway, whatever you guys say now it's kind of late. I already got all the stuff from Hogsmeade yesterday evening when you thought I was snogging that hot fifth year Ravenclaw. And everyone who's anyone already knows, Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws alike, so just get on board or the train's leaving the station without you!"

"I guess there's no harm in having a party..." James allowed, thinking this might be exactly what he needed to get over his constant obsession with a certain red-haired girl.

"Choo choo!"

* * *

Earlier that day while sitting in the Great Hall listening to Olive talk about some stupid Death Eater attack that had happened a few days earlier, Rose decided that she was getting bored of her latest conquest, a seventh year Hufflepuff. The chase had been the most exciting part, catching him staring at her long legs or making his eyes widen when she smiled and surreptitiously winked at him. But after her charms had taken effect and he was hooked on her, she just could not be bothered. There was nothing interesting about the boy, he loved to please her, bringing her books from the library when she needed them or carrying her bags for her from lesson to lesson. Like the others, he held no part of her captivated and after about a week, more precisely six days, Rose was ready to move on. He was too much like a puppy, trained to obey, and frankly, if she had wanted one, she would have just paid a visit to the Magical Menagerie.

What better moment to take care of her problem than the present, just when she had promised to meet with the boy toy. What a coincidence! Getting up from her bed and putting away her _Witch Weekly_, Rose checked herself in the mirror. Her hair was way too frizzy for public exposure she mused. Taking out her bottle of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion, she smoothed down the ends of her hair, teased the roots and pulled her hair into a high ponytail. Lightly powdering her nose to remove any appearance of fatigue and wiping her running mascara, she deemed herself ready for a breakup. Rose really could not be bothered to change out of her comfy mini shorts and hoodie, so she just left them on.

Rapidly taking the stairs, she walked through the Gryffindor Common Room, in too much of a hurry to notice the looks she received from the younger boys sitting around and playing chess.

The Hufflepuff boy toy, Mark, was standing awkwardly just by the portrait of the Fat Lady as she appeared. Rose smiled to the boy as he greeted her with a small peck on the cheek. He really was not bad to look at, slightly tanned, with light blue eyes and ruffled mousy brown hair. His build was that of a Beater, though she did not think he was on the Quidditch team.

"Wanna go for a walk?" He asked wrapping his arm around her waist. Rose felt like she might change her mind if she did not get rid of the guy immediately. He was nice after all, in his own way. He admired everything about Rose and always made her feel liked. They just had nothing in common. She was outgoing and the life of any party, whereas in all honesty, Mark was sort of boring, or too boring for her at least.

"Yeah, about that..." Rose was interrupted by a couple of fourth year Gryffindors coming from the Common Room, talking excitedly about their latest Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. "Come on, let's go somewhere where it's a bit quieter."

They ended up walking around in the quiet hallways until they found an empty classroom with just a few tables scattered around the space and boxes piled by the wall. Rose leaned against the nearest table as Mark sat beside her.

"So you had something you wanted to talk about?" Mark asked her kindly, with a warm smile on his face.

"Yeah, I just... I just don't want to lead you on. I feel like I've really enjoyed spending time with you and we've had fun, but I feel like you might be looking for something more serious than what I am. I'm really not ready for a committed relationship, I just wanted to make it clear that I most likely am not the girl for you." Rose knew she already sounded like she was defending herself and like she was making up excuses, but she could not help it. To her surprise Mark smiled.

"I'm shocked that this even lasted for this long. I mean, look at you: one of the most beautiful and fun to be around girls of this school and me: a shyish boy, average at my best, nothing special." Mark looked at Rose straight in the eyes with sincerity shining through his blue eyes.

"Aww, don't say that. You're amazing person. You're nice, considerate and friendly. I'm sure that one day you'll meet a girl who's just what you're looking for; committed, stable and as amazing as you are. I'm just not that girl."

"But we can be friends right? Miss-too-popular-to-notice-us-mortals, huh?" Mark joked nudging her ribs with his elbow.

Rose laughed out loud, feeling relieved about how easy it was to be honest with Mark and happy that she could be around a guy who wanted nothing more than friendship from her. "Of course we can be friends!"

* * *

Since Lily was spending more and more time with Nathan, she just could not say no when he asked her to do something with him, and Rose seemed to disappear every night on her own excursions, Olive found herself spending her evenings in the library. The Common Room was too loud for her to be able to get anything done, plus she somewhat liked the peaceful atmosphere of the library. There she could spend hours not noticing the passing of time, focusing on whatever problem was at hand: Arithmancy, Herbology and Potions.

Like many nights in the past week, Olive sat at her favorite table in the far corner, behind the tallest shelves. Books, parchment and homework assignments piled in front of her, she was prepared to write the latest essay for her least favorite subject: Potions. Unlike Lily, Olive was not talented in Potions, although she knew that if she wanted to reach her dream job as a Healer, she would have to work hard on her potions' skills. Her muggle mum worked as a nurse in their local hospital and Olive had always admired her for taking care of the sick and wounded with pay that just covered the expenses of being a single-mum of two, Olive and her 5-year-old sister Abbie Grace.

Cursing their Potions teacher, Slughorn, Olive opened her books and pulled her favorite quill out of the bag that was lying on the floor by the table. She understood the basics for the Polyjuice Potion, but couldn't wrap her head around the brewing process.

"Need help with that?"

Surprised, Olive snapped her head up to see a dark haired Slytherin boy leaning against the nearest shelf, his hands crossed over his wide chest with an unreadable expression on his strong face. Her dark eyes met his mysterious ones and she saw traces of a friendly smile playing on his lips.

The boy, Blaze Thomas, shifted hesitantly and Olive blushed as she realized that she had not answered. Flustered she quickly replied in a rather harsh tone: "What do you want?" Immediately regretting her hostility, after all the, boy had never done anything bad to her.

Olive wondered why the infamous Blaze Thomas was suddenly offering his help to her. What kind of a joke was this? All she knew about him was what she had seen in their shared classes: Thomas was the only muggle-born accepted by the Slytherin crowd, he was friendly with many of the future Death Eaters, or so she thought. Apart from his blood status, no one seemed to know anything about his past or about his family.

"I've seen you struggle in class. I thought you could use help, you want to become a Healer after graduation, right?"

"Yeah, that would be my dream job" Olive smiled up at the handsome Slytherin. Not sure about what it was about him, but she felt as if he could be trusted. Nodding towards the chair beside her, she finally answered his first question: "You can't be worse than me, so, yes. Help would be amazing."

Olive knew, of course, that Thomas was one of the most talented students among the seventh graders when it came to Potions. The only one who seemed to do better than him was Lily... and maybe her boyfriend, the overachieving tosser, Nathan Scott.

Thomas tossed his bag into the chair next to Olive's and sat down. Pulling her book closer to him, he started to teach her the intricate nuances between the differing ingredients and the time that they took to brew.

After what seemed like hours, Olive could finally say that she understood what Thomas had taught her. He had been patient with her, not showing any signs of frustration when she had asked him to explain the simplest of things again and again. Olive was surprised by how comfortable she felt herself with him around, usually the Slytherins made her nervous and jumpy. But Blaze Thomas had an air of calm confidence, he was sure in his manners and made her feel stable. His voice suddenly brought Olive out of her revere.

"So... Do you have trouble with fifth year Potions often?" he teased her.

Olive smiled, and shook her head: "This is not fifth year material! Sixth year is more accurate."

"Not helping your case, you know?" Blaze reminded her with a smile.

"Oh so I have a case now, do I?" She said, giving him a teasing smile.

"Yes, you most definitely do," he said with a gentle smile replacing the smirk on his face as he continued. "And I now take it upon myself to make sure that you do not make a fool out of yourself during the N.E.W.T.s" An edge of seriousness masking his eyes, even though the smile stayed on his lips.

"Can I ask you a question? In all seriousness." Olive timidly asked him, filling the random silence that had ensued.

"Sure, why not..."

Olive continued despite the hesitance she could read on his face, "Why are you helping me?"

"In all honesty? You seem like the type of person who would make an amazing Healer, and frankly I don't want to deny the poor patients the care that they'll need." Thomas said with mocking smile appearing on his face. _I guess it wasn't the time yet for the serious questions_.

* * *

Walking back from her meeting with Mark, Rose felt so relieved. _If only all break-ups were this easy_, she thought to herself. She was not heartless enough to enjoy these frequent 'meetings', no matter what Lily or Olive thought. Every time the boys started begging or got angry, Rose felt extremely guilty. It was not fair that she could inflict such emotions in people and actually sympathized with them greatly. But even that guilt was never enough to keep her grounded in the unhappy relationships, her feelings and happiness had to come first. Otherwise where would she be? This thinking had kept her heart safely tucked away, Rose had never really gotten close enough to anyone to warrant a heart-break. She was always the first one to end it, because one thing or another was not quite right and she just lost that feeling. When she voiced her qualms to her friends, they said she was afraid of commitment, but Rose had merely scoffed at the idea. Surely she would be ready to commit, once she found someone who made her feel like the commitment was worth it. In short, someone who enthralled her for longer than a week.

Sighing to herself, Rose started thinking about the letter she had gotten from her brother Ed this morning. She knew that it would not help her to continue with the thoughts about commitment or boys and much rather focused on problems she could actually solve. He had written to her, not because something had happened at home, but because he was bored and wanted to tell her about his most recent adventures with his fiancée Caroline. Rose loved her brothers to death, but she had been gone a week and had not started to miss them too much. It was a nice break actually, though Rose knew that come the end of the month she would miss them too much for words. She had just figured out what to reply to him, when she accidentally bumped into someone rounding the corner.

A pile of books fell to the ground, while Rose desperately tried to keep her balance. Slowly teetering backwards and waving her arms back and forth, she felt two hands come to her waist. Tristan Cole, the boy she had bumped into and whose books she had dropped, was now steadying her.

"You alright miss?" He asked chuckling, his dark features alight with humor. With eyes the color of melted dark chocolate, strong facial features, the whitest teeth Rose had ever seen and a short buzz cut, Rose suddenly found herself hoping that she had not looked like a complete idiot flailing around trying to stay upright.

"Quite all right, thanks to you kind sir." She replied giggling, keeping up the posh accent he had used and throwing in a small curtsey for the fun of it.

"I'm glad." Tristan said, still smiling. "You're Lily's friend, right?"

"That I am, and you would be Nathan's right-hand man?"

"Sure, let's call me that. The name is Tristan Cole." The bright smile was still on his face as he extended his hand for her to shake.

"Oh trust me Mr. Cole, I know exactly who you are." Rose said, with a sly grin and took his hand to shake.

"Well then Ms. Selwyn, I guess my next offer just became obsolete." His smile became slightly damped, but his tone still teasing.

"First of all, how do you know I am Ms. Selwyn?" She asked a little out of curiosity and a little in vanity, and continued in a slightly suggestive manner, "and second, I'd still love to know what you were going to offer. Maybe we could... Come up with a way to make it un-obsolete."

"Your first question is easy, everyone knows who you are. Such beauty is difficult to ignore." He barely even colored, though it was difficult to tell with the shade of his skin, "And well, I was wondering if you wanted to get to know each other, because we are after all complete strangers."

Rose laughed lightly, that was one she had heard before. But examining the mischievous glint in his eyes and his impressive physique, she decided she should give him a chance.

"Why, thank you. Flattery will get you everywhere." This time she openly winked at him, "How bout a counter proposition, you take me to the back-to-school party that's happening in the Gryffindor Common Room later tonight?"

"Actually, that sounds like a great idea. I guess you're more than just a pretty face, huh?" It was now his turn to wink and meaningfully look her up and down. "This way, I don't have to spend my whole night studying for Arithmancy. I'll see you outside the Fat Lady at eight?"

* * *

The Gryffindor Tower was nicely filled with students; first years standing timidly by the walls, barely talking with the few friends that they had already made; second years hanging out casually with their friends, though boys and girls stood on opposite ends of the room. The only people actually taking part in the festivities were fifth years and older, feeling more confident about their place in the castle, some even taking brave sips of the Firewhiskey that the boys had brought.

Rose and Olive had had to drag Lily to the party, literally picking her up and bringing her downstairs from their room. They had promised to let her get to her date with Nate if she danced at least three dances with them with a smile on her face. The deal was agreed to grudgingly on Lily's part, though she had made it a point to wear her regular clothes instead of dressing up like her friends. Olive had straightened her thick, dark hair, added some definition to bring out her cheekbones and generously applied mascara covering her dark lashes and put on one of her few party outfits.

She walked by the dance floor that had been transfigured into the middle of the Common Room, towards the place where Sirius had placed the alcohol. Olive poured herself another drink before scanning her surroundings for familiar faces. She spotted Sirius dancing wildly with a few girls and Lily talking with Remus and Peter by the windows. She didn't have time to look for Rose before she was spotted by James, who came over to talk to her.

"Hey stranger." He greeted her as he hugged her shortly. "Why didn't you come to visit us during the summer?"

"Because of my mum, you know. She wanted to make the most of the time that I was home. She barely let me out of the house."

"I'm glad she did though. My guess is that Dumbledore wouldn't have wanted to have to go all the way to Manchester just to get you to school."

She laughed and looked over to where Sirius was now dancing with Rose. "Those two would make an interesting couple, huh?" James said watching the same scene.

"True... if they combined their forces, I think we would have cause to be really scared... Kind of like another couple I know. You and a certain red-head perhaps?" Olive had wanted to talk about Lily with James for a while now, and this seemed like the perfect chance.

"I'm sorry O, but I really don't feel like talking about Lily right now." His hazel eyes were sad, the traces of the smile that had shined on his face were now gone completely. "It just... It just hurts too much, you know? Seeing her smile and be all happy with Scott during the Prefect meetings, it nearly kills me every time. Watching her dance out there with you and Rose, gives me pain. I just... Don't know how I can keep doing this anymore." Olive had never seen the confident Head Boy this defeated and she really did not like it.

"James, I know this is going to sound awful of me, but _please_don't give up on Lily. She may seem happy with Nathan, but -" Olive was then interrupted by the arrival of the person they were talking about, quickly changing the subject and taking her leave. "Oh hey Lil. I'm thirsty... Yup, thirsty. I'll ummm... see you both later."

She was gone before either of them could blink. An awkward silence ensued, both Lily and James avoiding each other's eyes. Lily floundered around for words, knowing what she wanted to say, but not sure how she was going to say it.

"So... Oh sod it. I'm going to just come out with what I wanted to say, okay Potter?" she looked at him expectantly, her green eyes boring into his bespeckled ones.

"Sure Evans, but just make it quick, yeah? One of the Ravenclaws over there is looking sort of lonely and I just wanted to go... play the host. If you know what I mean." He gave her a friendly smile, but Lily could hear the anxiousness in his voice.

"Right, sure. I was thinking, or more like hoping, that since we'll be working super closely this year... That maybe we could put all that childish nonsense behind us and just finally get along? I can see you've really been putting in an effort, and I was wondering if we could be casual acquaintances?" For the first time in years, James saw Lily looking slightly nervous, like she was not exactly sure about what she was saying.

"Evans, you're sort of rambling. But yeah acquaintances would be great." His entire face lit up just saying those words. "Like really great. Now can we continue this conversation some other time?"

James knew it was best not to push his luck, especially with this newfound acquaintanceship.

"Sorry, I'll talk to you later okay? Now I really want to have a word with Ally, she's all alone in the corner." Giving her a crooked grin, James sauntered off towards the other end of the Common Room.

Craning her neck, Lily followed him with her gaze. Ally Chang was indeed standing in the corner, but she was far from alone, though her friends quickly made themselves scarce as they saw James walking towards her.

_And that's my cue to leave_, Lily thought to herself, feeling a slight pang in her chest at the sight before her. _Nathan's waiting outside._

Lily made her way to the portrait hole, bumping into Rose on the way. She had seen her dancing with Sirius earlier, but Lily was under the impression that she had invited one of Nathan's friends.

"So... You and Sirius again, huh?" Lily teased her friend, really wanting to know what was going on.

"Oh yeah, he just wanted a dance. Apparently the Hufflepuff slag he brought has no sense of rhythm. It's hilarious really. But now that it's 8 o'clock, Tristan should be waiting outside to entertain me." The spark in Rose's eyes was evident when she mentioned Tristan, a look that Lily was extremely familiar with.

"Well, just be careful okay? Tristan's a nice guy, don't break his heart." She reminded her friend, just as they reached their respective dates.

* * *

Nathan was the perfect gentleman, like always. He had brought a thick, soft wool blanket up to the Astronomy Tower, on which they were now lying side by side. Their arms brushing lightly against one another. Stargazing had been his idea. Now that Lily thought about it, most of the things they did together were planned by him. Other girls would have most likely found the atmosphere extremely romantic, but Lily felt like she was suffocating.

Nathan was everything she, or anyone else, could ask for in a boyfriend. He was considerate, polite and good-looking, with deep blue eyes that reminded Lily of the sea. His dark blonde hair was parted on the side in the usual way, each strand gelled to stand in a perfect balance of volume and tidiness. Being a Ravenclaw Nathan was also extremely smart and excelled in most subjects. Lily recalled the way they had originally met. For once, Nathan had not gotten a straight O out of their Potions exam and knowing that Lily was the best in their grade, he had asked her for help. Nathan had swooped Lily off her feet with his charming manners and elegant ways. At the time Lily had been furious about just another one of Potter's pranks and Nathan was everything James was not.

Shaking her head to cast the old memories aside, Lily turned to smile at her boyfriend. Nathan wrapped his arms around Lily's shoulders pulling her against his own body.

"You see these bright stars just above us? Those ones just to the left? It's the constellation of Andromeda." Nathan explained pointing at stars above them.

"They're really nice." Lily replied. To her all of the stars were equally beautiful and she had never really bothered learning about their placements and about constellations, Astronomy was not something that really interested her. She settled into admiring the gorgeous dome of sparkling stars and the black sky in between, black as the ink they used in class.

"It is named after Andromeda, the daughter of Cassiopeia, who according to the Greek mythology, was sacrificed to a sea monster as a divine punishment for her mother's actions. Isn't it just amazing?" Nathan continued excitedly, clearly unaware of Lily's lack of interest.

Zoning out Nathan's excited chatter about the other stars and constellations around them, Lily started focusing on counting the stones in the walls around them. How all of the natural stones were the same shape and color was a mystery to her, then again magic could do pretty much anything.

Reaching five hundred and seventy two, she was brought out of her reverie by a slight nudge from Nathan.

"Hmmm..?" she asked him, slightly dismayed at being interrupted. _Could it be classified as sad, if she'd rather count the stones in the wall than listen to her amazing boyfriend talk about something he was passionate about?_Lily sighed, there really was no use in thinking about such things. She cared for Nathan, she did. Did she not?

"Lily, there's something I've wanted to tell you for a very long time. You're such an amazing person, and as you probably know, tomorrow is our one year anniversary." Nathan paused, using his index finger to lift up Lily's face, so she looked him straight in the eyes. The next three words were something he had contemplated for a long time and he wanted the moment to be perfect for her. He always wanted everything to be perfect, _for her_.

"Lily. Darling Lily, I love you."


	4. The One with the Baldness

**A/N:**Well look at that, it's been quite a while since we last updated, sorry bout that... But hopefully the next 16 pages (holy crap...) makes up for our indescrepencies! We're just posting as we go, so no promises on when the next one will be out.. Thanks for reading and have a great day! -BTB

**Disclaimer:** Yeah, this story may be good, but it isn't _that_ good... Rose, Olive, Nathan, Blaze and Tristan are ours but the rest are JKR. And in case we haven't mentioned, STMTS is also named after Kenny Chesney's song _She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy_.

* * *

"Lily. Darling Lily, I love you." he said it with such conviction, such emotion. His ocean blue eyes bore into her, he didn't blink or flinch. In that moment Lily realized, this was every girl's dream: to have a handsome, kind, romantic boy tell you they love you under the stars. But she did not feel like her dreams had been fulfilled, on the contrary, she felt like the walls around them were slowly closing in. Lily felt panic taking over her thoughts, _what was she supposed to answer?_

"I... I'm sorry, Nathan." Lily finally said. Meeting Nathan's confused gaze she continued quietly: "I wish I could say it back to you, but you know that I'm a really independent person and I've always had difficulties trusting others. So, I want to be sure that I'm fully ready before I say it too."

Nathan kissed her lightly on her lips. "Of course I understand. You wouldn't be the Lily that I love without your trust issues." A slight smile toyed on his lips. "I'm grateful that you feel secure enough to really be honest with me. Thank you, Lily."

Lily did not know where she had come up with the excuses she had given him. She knew they were almost blatant lies, after a year together she should have been able to say it back. It was true that she had had difficulties trusting people, especially after what Severus had done to her. But there was this nagging voice in the back of Lily's head telling her that there was a real reason for her not being able to tell Nathan she loved him, and it had nothing to do with her trust issues or not having had enough time.

Still dazed by his declaration of love, Lily made some excuse about having homework to do or patrol to get to, gave Nathan a light peck on the lips and left the Astronomy Tower. Her entire body was numb. That same annoying voice was telling her that if she loved him, her heart would be beating erratically she would be jumping up and down, an idiotic smile on her face. And most importantly, she would have said _it_back. But Lily was doing none of those things, instead she was making her way to Gryffindor Tower getting ready to write a Transfiguration essay that McGonagall had assigned for next week, desperately hoping the party in the Common Room had already died down.

* * *

The party had been exactly what Hogwarts had needed before the new school year began in earnest. Everyone had released their leftover holiday energy and was now more or less ready to face the beginning hardships. It had lasted until the sun came up the next morning, leaving many lethargic the next day. Sunday was a day of recovery, some nursing wicked hangovers and only trying to get through the day while others desperately tried to get through the mountains of homework they had left undone. Before anyone knew it, Monday rolled around, bringing along with it a whole new round of classes and sleep deprived students.  
Sirius was one of the few who barely felt the effects of the other night. Just like every other Monday morning for the past six years, he sat at the end of the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall with the rest of the Marauders. They were sitting in companionable silence, each trying to fill their empty stomachs with as much of the delicious food as possible, occasionally grunting at each other as means of communication. Not many knew it, but when left alone with food, the four boys would immediately silence themselves, rather concentrating on the act of eating, only beginning to speak once each of them was relatively done.

After three servings of waffles, pancakes, bacon, eggs and toast Sirius was the last of the boys to finish, just like every other Monday morning. Having finished his food, he grabbed two mugs and filled them to the brim with coffee, sliding the other one to James, who was busy reading the Daily Prophet.

"I still don't know how you can drink that stuff." Remus said, wrinkling his nose at the smell of the dark liquid.

"I'm not really surprised that a pansy like your only drinks tea. Honestly, what kind of a girl are you Moony?"

"I think it's rather rich of you, of all people, to call Remus a girl." Sirius turned around to see three smirking girls behind him, the Gryffindor seventh year girls.

"Ah Selwyn, if you felt that way, why didn't you just snog him?" Sirius said giving her his trademark roguish smile. He knew it was wrong to bring up past discrepancies, but he could not let Rose win. But somehow, for reasons unknown to him, his remark only made the girls' smile wider as they all sat next to the boys.

"Now now, no need to be ungrateful Black. Next time I think I'll just let you dance with your mindless Hufflepuffs and spend time with my own date instead." Rose retorted, stretching past him to put some toast on her plate.

Lily and Olive had already filled their plates with breakfast and busied themselves with eating, casually talking to Remus, Peter and James. They had completely been ignoring their bickering friends, too used to dealing with little spats like this. Rose too joined the conversation about the upstarting Quidditch season, by asking James when the tryouts were going to be. As one of the team's Chasers, she was extremely interested in the subject at hand.

Any confusion that James might have been feeling about Lily sitting with them disappeared immediately with the question. He went into great detail about the tryouts he was holding next Saturday, new strategies he had been thinking about and his thoughts about the training schedule.

"So what you're saying is that there's no guarantee that old players will have a place on the team?" Lily asked curiously, she had never really been interested in what made the Gryffindor Quidditch team tick, but she enjoyed watching them play.

"Yeah, I mean it doesn't really give them any incentive to play you know? Knowing that they have a ready made spot for them on the team. Granted they'll have superb chances, I just don't want to promote laziness this year." James replied, looking at Remus for approval on what he had just said. Remus merely nodded at him, a small smile playing on his lips.

"That's actually a really good strategy, Potter. Didn't know you had it in you." James' eyes widened to the sizes of saucers. Lily Evans had just complimented him on something concerning Quidditch. _His _Lily Evans. Complimented. Him. Quidditch.

Sirius noticed James' shock and scoured his brain for something for the group to talk about before they realized how stupidly his friend was behaving. "So if quizzes are quizzical, then what are tests?"

The whole table looked at him like he had sprouted a second head, _what? It was a legitimate question!_

"Well obviously, they're testical!" Peter said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Slowly everyone swiveled their heads from Sirius to stare at Peter with astounded faces. A moment of silence ensued, until Sirius broke it with his bark like laugh. Everyone joined in, even Peter, although Remus was quite sure he had no idea as to why they were laughing.

"And on that note, I think it's time we head to Transfiguration." Lily said, after her giggles had subsided.

The group rose, still chuckling and made their way to Professor McGonagall's classroom.

* * *

"Hey gorgeous, you wouldn't happen to have time for me today?"

Rose giggled, Tristan always seemed to catch her by surprise. Like now, he had just popped out of nowhere with a small daisy in hand and a big smile on his handsome features while she was making her way to Charms on the bleary Wednesday afternoon. She was really enjoying the time they spent together, so she gave him a small nod, slipping the daisy to rest in her hair.

"Great, I'll come and catch you after dinner okay?" Again Rose just nodded, feeling excited about that evening.

Tristan gave her a charming smile and a quick peck on the cheek, before dashing to his next class. Rose's face conformed into a wide smile as she picked up her pace to catch her friends and sit down with them in their usual spot - Olive and Lily sitting in the middle of the front row and Rose sitting behind them, stretched out over the entire double desk.

She sat sideways, like she always did, supporting her legs on the chair next to her. Still smiling, Rose spread out two pieces of parchment, two quills and two jars of ink. The first quill, a plush dark brown eagle feather she dipped into the black ink and charmed so that it would copy down notes from Flitwick's lecture. It began scribbling away as he quieted the class and started speaking about the Flame-Freezing Charm. The second quill, a peacock feather, Rose dipped into the teal ink jar. At first she simply sat there, eyes closed, clearing her mind with the exquisite quill poised over the second bit of parchment.

Grasping at a thought, she slowly opened her eyes and began drawing. As the lecture around her progressed, a magnificent tree materialized on Rose's parchment stroke by stroke. It was a barren outline, strongly reminiscent of winter, but strong, tall and majestic. Under it she wrote: _and kisses are a better fate than wisdom_. The quote was one of her favorites and one of the only things she remember from years spent in Muggle Studies after having fallen in love with poetry in her fourth year. After their lessons on famous poets, Rose had devoured every book in the Library concerned with Muggle poets. E.E Cummings and Edgar Allen Poe had quickly become her favorites and she often quoted them in the corners of her notes or doodles. Like with her silly little drawings, Rose did not share her interests with anyone other than Lily and Olive. Her pureblood family would not understand the Muggle infatuation and she preferred that the people of Hogwarts kept thinking of her as the more or less empty headed blonde. Anyway, keeping the whole thing a secret gave her something to fall back on during moments like this, when she was too preoccupied to concentrate on anything else.

Thankfully the double Charms lesson was their last of the day before dinner. Doodling away, Rose barely noticed the lesson reach its close until she was jolted into consciousness by the sound of the bell. Quickly packing away her things, Rose realized how close she was to her date with Tristan. She was expecting it to be a fun night and was hoping for it to come as quickly as possible.

Sitting down in the Great Hall with Lily and Olive, she unconsciously touched the daisy still resting in her blonde locks and smiled.

"Let me guess, Lils. A certain Ravenclaw has wooed our golden-haired friend into accepting a date with him tonight?" Olive asked, astutely noticing Rose's straying gaze.

Lily merely laughed at the observation and teasingly asked said golden-haired friend: "Really Rose? All it takes now-a-days is a flower? You're growing soft."

"Oh har har. If you must know, I was only thinking about a suitable way to reward Cole for his chivalry. If you know what I mean. This one date and my so called enthusiasm hardly mean anything more than a good snog." Rose replied in the allusive tone she loved so much, winking her eye for emphasis.

Lily and Olive rolled their eyes at the same time, a move they had perfected during the course of Rose's history with boys.

"Phew! And here I thought you dated people because you wanted a future with them!" Lily exclaimed, starting the age old conversation they always seemed to have about Rose's way with boys.

Rose was quick to counter her, in the way she always did: "Oh don't be so naive Lils! I may enjoy Tristan's company more than most, but he's just going to end up like all the previous boyfriends: in the trash."

Rose knew what she was saying was a little harsh, but that was just the way it was with her. Meaningful relationships just were not her style.

Olive could tell her friend was being honest about the poor boy's future. In a way Rose's stony approach to boys made her sad, if anyone deserved to really find love it was her friends. But she knew not to press the point, not now at least. All she could do was hope that someone would come along for the two of them and break down the walls they had built. Grabbing a roll from the basket on her left, Olive decided to change the subject.

"So when's the next Hogsmeade trip, Lils?"

But before Lily could even answer a masculine voice interrupted their conversation.

"So Selwyn, you ready for a fantastic night?"

"Well aren't we just full of confidence..." Rose answered the now present Tristan, giving him a small smirk. She turned around to fully face him, taking in the shining chocolate eyes, loose Ravenclaw tie and easy smile.

"Ah well what can I say, having a beautiful woman say yes to a date with me has instilled me with vigor and cockiness."

"Hmmm... I wonder what actually spending time with this beautiful woman will do to you?"

"I guess it's time we find out, excuse us ladies." Tristan held out his hand for Rose to take, quickly smiling at Lily and Olive before leaving the Great Hall.

"So what kind of adventure do you have in store for us today?" Rose asked after a few minutes of silently walking hand in hand through the corridors.

"I was thinking that we could go to the library and study a little, then go to the Ravenclaw Common Room and do a crossword or something." Tristan answered her, looking down at Rose with a small smile. Rose was not a short girl, quite the opposite really. She usually towered over the majority of other girls and finding boys that were tall enough for her was difficult. Standing next to Tristan Rose felt unnaturally small, a feeling she did not have often. _I could get used to this._

"Studying in the library and then a crossword... Sounds... Umm... Great..?" Rose really tried to make the sentence sound like something she might enjoy, but her blunt nature got in the way. She had thought that they would spend the evening together, having fun or getting to know each other. But apparently Tristan had other things in mind.

Booming laughter interrupted her confused thoughts. Rose felt Tristan's entire frame shake with the noise as he looped his arm around to pull her to his side. This confused her even more and Rose felt her eyebrows knit together as she glanced up at the still chuckling boy. Tristan met her gaze, beaming like crazy and slightly chortling.

"You actually thought that I'd waste this time doing a crossword?"

"Well how was I supposed to know you were joking?" said Rose a little indignantly, but trying to fight a smile.

"Sweetheart, I may be in Ravenclaw, but that doesn't mean I enjoy doing crosswords on a date. What I have in mind is much less geeky."

_He called me 'sweetheart'._

"Pray tell, what did you have in mind exactly?" Rose asked, the innuendo was clear in her tone and the way she subtly lifted one of her eyebrows.

"I was hoping for you to ask that question a little later, love. But I guess there's no time like the present, is there?"

* * *

Three hours and many detours later, Rose was making her way through the silent corridors. Her usually well-kept hair was tangled and mussed and her lips felt swollen, bare of the usual coat of chap stick or lip stick. But it was obvious that Rose did not care what she looked like walking to the Tower, her eyes were slightly glazed as if she barely saw the flickering torches or paintings moving around in their frames.

In this same dizzy state, she was lucky to have made it to the Common Room without being caught by Filch or one of the Prefect's on duty. Thankfully luck had stayed on her side all night and she was now safely in the confines of the Gryffindor Tower. Still completely oblivious to her surroundings, Rose traipsed through the mass of people in the Common Room trying to do homework or playing Exploding Snap to the girls' staircase.

She was greeted by an interesting sight, to say the least, interesting enough to sober her overly happy mood. In front of her a bored looking Olive was transfiguring lint and other trash into porcelain plates and rhythmically handing them to a red-faced Lily, who was throwing them at the walls and floor.

"What in the name of Merlin's sweaty left sock are you two doing?"

It was Olive who answered her question, still conjuring the plates. "Apparently Nathan thought Lily would be more inclined to say you-know-what back if he charmed you-know-which words onto the ceiling of the Great Hall and stood up on the Ravenclaw table with a bouquet of flowers and put a Sonorus charm on himself, so he could tell the entire student body how he felt."

Rose blinked in surprise, obviously Lily had told the girls about her evening in the Astronomy Tower, but she had not really elaborated on how it made her feel. Being her best friends, Rose and Olive both knew that while Lily _liked_ Nathan, she did not _love_him and probably never would. Lily did not really need to tell them how she felt, all three of them knew deep down what she would say. The way she had immediately forced herself into doing school work was more than enough to show that.

The thing that surprised Rose was how Nathan had reacted. He had always been an extremely patient boyfriend, never pushing Lily for anything she was not ready for and putting up with Potter's antics. This whole show that had taken place after she left in the Great Hall was not something she had expected even from him.

"Lils, honey, have you talked to Nathan after he told you how he felt?" Rose asked gently. This seemed to do the trick and Lily paused in the plate throwing.

In a small voice, she answered Rose, "Not exactly."

"And that love, is where the problem lies. Sorry for my bluntness, but it's been four days since the poor boy told you _he loved you_. I know he dealt with your... silence well when it happened, but you can't expect him to be as great about you avoiding him afterwards. It's kind of like accidentally saying 'oh well, I've never seen one _that_small before' right before sex, it just doesn't end well. He's a great guy and he deserves to know what's going on." By the end of her speech, Rose was pulling at her hair, securing it into a messy ponytail. She realized how messy she looked and needed to bring herself together to be able to deal with other people's problems.

"I know, I know... But I just can't face him, I need some time. I mean we're not even out of school yet and he loves me. I just can't deal with that, not right now."

Seeing the exasperated expression on Rose's face, Olive spoke next. "If you need time away from him, that's perfectly okay. But don't you think you should tell _him _that?"

"Sweetheart, you have a loyal, kind boy telling you he loves you. You've been together for a year, if you're not feeling it, you should just tell him." Like before Rose's tone was blunt. She was addressing the question everyone was thinking but no one cared to say out loud. Olive's eyes flashed to her, obviously as a warning.

"Oh stop glaring at me O, we were all thinking it weren't we?" Rose clucked impatiently, looking at Lily. She looked reluctant, staring at the wall across from her bed, but gave a conceding sigh.

"You're right, both of you. I just - it's just not that easy. But I'll talk to him tomorrow, I promise."  
Both Rose and Olive knew that was the best they were going to get out of the redhead tonight. Using the silent communication they were so good at, they agreed to make sure their friend would come through with her promise.

Determined to change the conversation to something more light-hearted Olive now turned to Rose with a wicked grin.

"So, from your disheveled appearance I take it your date with Tristan went well?"

"Oh the usual you know, snogging in a broom closet for a few hours. Nothing either of you hasn't experienced."

This caused all the girls to start giggling. Lily, not wanting too much information, just said, "Oh yes, we know exactly what you're talking about."

Rose noticed the hint but decided to ignore it a mischievous grin on her face, "One of the best snogs I've had in a while though."

"Okay, okay! I think we got it!" cried Lily still giggling.

Obviously not wanting to hear anymore, Olive asked, "Hey Lils, what'd you get for number three on the Potions homework?"

* * *

Outside of the dungeon in which their Potions classes were held, the Gryffindors were waiting for Slughorn to appear and start the early morning class the following day. The Slytherins stood on the other side of the corridor, in a tight bunch, quietly talking with each other. An occasional glare was being shared between the two groups, but no one had a desire to end up in detention by starting a fight.

Lily, Olive and Rose were by their classroom, talking. - Or at least Lily and Rose were.  
"I really can't figure out why Dumbledore insists on always pairing Gryffindors and Slytherins for Potions." Rose sighed frustrated.

"Like we haven't been wondering the same thing for the past six years." Lily answered. "Maybe he thinks that closing people into a small stone walled space with only one door and no windows would make us like each other."

"...Or even tolerate." Olive chipped in, finally freeing herself of her over-thinking tendencies and tearing her eyes from a certain dark Slytherin. At the same time they heard loud laughter fill the hallway as the Marauders marched from around the corner.

"Hello ladies, how are we this fine morning?" Sirius asked from the center of their group, giving Rose an undisguised wink.

"Well now that you're here, we're just fantastic." Rose replied, messing up her wavy long hair, pouting her freshly coated lips and blinking her wide doe eyes at him, simultaneously stepping closer to him.

"No need to be so... Wait, you're what now?" Sirius was looking at the blonde girl in confusion, his mouth slightly open in shock. He had not seen the wink she had given her friends just before she answered him. Her friends had quickly caught on, ready to keep up the charade and pull one over on the infamous Marauders.

It was Lily's turn to play the role, she walked up closer to James until they were only separated by the smallest gap, put her hand on his chest and quietly breathed, "You know Potter, never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually doing _much_better now." It was obvious that James Potter had stopped breathing the minute Lily had come within a foot of him. Like his best friend, the minute the words left Lily's mouth he completely froze with his mouth a jar and looking like he had seen a ghost.

It was during this moment of silence that Olive did her part. She hexed them both, causing them to go bald.

Peter's and Remus's eyes bugged out, but neither James nor Sirius noticed. The girls on the other hand were not so adept at keeping themselves together, as they burst out laughing at the sight of the two hairless boys. Both bald boys looked at the girls before they looked at each other.

"You. Are. Bald." Sirius exclaimed while doubling over with laughter. Bringing James's laughter to a sudden stop, "So are you, Padfoot! Bloody hell..."

A sudden silence hung over them as they realized that they were both bald, not just the other. James lifted his hands slowly to his formerly dark and messy hair. They both looked too shocked to speak, before Sirius turned to Olive: "Fix it! I can't live without my hair! Think about the ladies no one wants me like this!"

"...like anyone would want you anyway."

"So not the point... fix. it. Miller. NOW!"

Reluctantly Olive lifted her wand and returned the boys' hair just the way it had been: James with his uncontrollable hair sticking out the back, like it always did, and Sirius with his sleek hair that no matter what he did with it gave him an instant air of his signature bad boy -charm.

Only fifteen minutes late, Slughorn arrived at last. He opened the dungeon door and they all filed in. Lily took her usual seat in the middle of the room, sharing her table with Rose and Olive. The Marauders took over the two tables in the back of the room.

Just as they had taken their seats Olive saw Blaze seat himself next to Snape in the row before her. Blaze met her gaze, which made her lower her eyes onto the table in front of her. On the table was a folded piece parchment, that she was quite sure was not hers.

Olive picked up the parchment and looked around trying to figure out whom it belonged to. Her eyes met Blaze's for the second time. He gestured for her to open the piece obscurely. She glanced at him questioningly before opening the parchment and reading the note scribbled onto it.

_"Still in need of tutoring? _  
_Meet me at the library, Saturday, say 6 o'clock?_  
_BT"_

She smiled and nodded slightly, just enough for Blaze to see her acceptance for his help.

* * *

Peter sat in one of the most comfortable chairs of the Gryffindor Common Room after the week's last classes. The deep red armchair was facing the stony fireplace and he could soak in the heat radiating from the roaming fire. These moments of sitting quietly, by himself, and thinking, were not usual for Peter. Usually he was surrounded by the blabber of Sirius and James, or one of the more quiet conversations he usually had with Remus. It was not that he didn't enjoy spending time just by himself, it just made him feel a bit self-conscious, especially if he was alone in a room filled with other people. Just like he was at that moment.

He had reason to be thankful when that moment did not continue for too long as he heard the familiar voices, and loud thumping footsteps, of the three other Marauders.

"Hola mi cariño" Sirius greeted Peter with an over exaggerated kiss on the cheek and a wink, before he sat down on the floor as James and Remus took over the two other armchairs available.

"And here we thought that Padfoot only had his eyes on the ladies." James chuckled.

Sirius just shrugged: "You have something against my ways of greeting my friends, well I can ignore you just as well...hmmm, what do you think should I make the brownie my next one?" He motioned towards a fifth-year girl, with a short ashy brown hair, laughing with her friends nearby.

"She's fifteen!" Remus cried out, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"Yeah, so?" Sirius retorted, "She's pretty. Maybe I'll ask her to be my date to Hogsmeade next Saturday."

"There's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up?" James finally woke up from his thoughts and joined the conversation.

"Yeah, they just hung up the posters." Peter answered, glad that he knew something that James didn't. "So when are you going to have the Quidditch try outs?"

"Why you want to join the team?" Sirius laughed, before he was silenced by Remus's glare.

"I think I should have them this weekend if the next one is going to be Hogsmeade..." James wondered out loud, before jumping up: "I'll go reserve the field."

"Overachiever." Sirius muttered.  
"So where do you want to go tonight?" He turned back towards Remus and Peter.

Peter was confused, had they made plans to go somewhere tonight? To be honest, he wouldn't have been surprised. His memory was not one his best features, but his question was answered before he could voice his thoughts.

"Can't we just stay in the shack tonight?" Remus asked.

_Oh right, full moon._

"James will be back before we'll go, right?" Peter asked wondering how they always, once every month, made the transformations together and not once had been caught... Well, at least if Remus being outed to Snape was not counted. Sometimes he was not only amazed by how close they had become, but about his role too. During the first couple years at Hogwarts he had thought that James and Sirius would at some point realize that they were way above him and would just start ignoring him. That day never came.

Peter loved the feeling of belonging he felt with his friends. That was something he had never had at home, sure his parents loved him and were always there for him, but they were different in every respect possible. His father was spineless Ministry worker, who occasionally did what Death Eaters asked him to do. Too much of a coward to join them, he thought that playing both sides would give him his best chances. Peter loathed his ways of not standing up to something he believed in, no matter what it was.

His friends, Moony, Padfoot and Prongs, had always been everything his father was not - they had the courage to defend the weak, they had the passion to follow their dreams and they had the talent to do so. They, all four of them, had promised to stay friends forever, and Peter knew he wouldn't want to be the one to break that promise. He admired his friends, they were the kinds of role models that he had never had before. Peter usually preferred not even staying in contact with his father, but with his mother he was close - or at least closer.

Around Peter, Sirius and Remus were deep in discussion of the night's plans. He shook the depressing thoughts about his parents far from his mind as he focused back on the present.

"But why don't we just do the usual?" Peter asked, having no clue of what the problem was: "Can't we just go and meet Moony at the shack and then see what we feel like doing?"

"Sirius would like to go and take a better look of that cave by Hogsmeade, and I think that there is no worse idea..."

"Oh come on, we're not going to let you eat the residents!"  
"But you don't have 100% control over me! I'm not, and never have been, in your full control!"

"Uhm, guys..." Peter noticed how they were starting to get weird looks from the fifth graders sitting by. "Maybe we should continue this upstairs...?"

"No, I'm not discussing this further, that side of Hogsmeade is OFF LIMITS." Remus was for once looking like he seriously meant what he said. And when he had that certain edge in his eyes there was no discussion to be had with him.

"Wormtail, please tell Prongs not to let this idiot go running around wherever the hell he wants." Remus rose sharply out of his seat, almost knocking over the pile of books on the side desk, and left through the portrait hole.

"Padfoot, please listen to him for once."  
"Do I have to?"  
"Yes."

* * *

Lily twisted her hands nervously, while she consciously avoided eye contact with the blue eyes she could feel staring down at her. Speaking about her feelings had never been one of her better qualities - truthfully, she would have rather gone out with Snape than communicate with Nathan, even though they had been together for quite some time... and apparently communicating was something that dating couples were usually good at?

"Lily, look at me please." He pleaded, a slight tone of begging in his voice. Nathan had hoped that if the most secluded, the most personal, the most romantic way of letting her know his feelings was not enough - maybe a more... public version would just be what Lily wanted. But now, he didn't know where he stood with her, she seemed disappointed and, for once, he couldn't read her expression.

Lily suppressed a sigh and lifted her gaze, noticing the beautiful black sky with bright stars coming out one by one, out of the corner of her eye. _Just like the other night, the night when the three big words were shared... well obviously not shared as I am too emotionally retarded to feel anything, but - confessed?_Trying to collect her thoughts, she adjusted the hem of her skirt. Not sure how to feel, about Nathan, about his confessions or even about where they stood as a couple, she outed her worries: "But, Nathan. Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you do it?"

Lily looked straight into the ocean blue eyes, that gazed warmly back at her - like they had always had. Only now, the warm gaze was clouded by other emotions, competing with the clear affection.  
"I mean, you knew I was ...informed of the way you felt about me. And I thought that, even though I was not - am not - able to say it back, that we were okay? That everything was good between us, right?"

Nathan felt himself stiffen _She sounds like she's breaking up with me._He could sense the nervousness in her voice and tried to ease the situation any way he could.

"Of course everything between us is great!" _It's bloody marvelous, obviously..._"I just wanted to do something romantic for you, but it's okay. I don't want to pressure you into anything you're not ready for!"

Really not wanting to further discuss the incident Lily ignored the queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach and leaned closer to Nate on the tiny windowsill they shared.

"And that's why I love spending time with you" _Not exactly the 'I love you' he wanted... but you can't get everything, right?_"So, what do you think... should we continue this somewhere more... private?" She smiled at him, as Nathan leaned in and closed the distance between them pressing his mouth hungrily onto hers.

When they separated, both gasping for air, he jumped of the windowsill and helped her off it too. Nathan took Lily's delicate hand into his as they started towards the nearest more private location that he knew about - a close by seldom used classroom. They shared a few kisses and many laughs in the corridor. Lily could sense his shoulders relaxing and his whole appearance becoming more... alive, with every step they took.

Just when Nathan was about to push the door of the empty classroom open, they heard footsteps coming from the next corridor. Before either of them had time to react, or hide, they saw the intruder. Lily could feel every ounce of her happy state of mind evaporating: "Hey Potter! What the hell are you doing here?!"

* * *

James hurried towards the teachers' room, where the reservation book for the Quidditch field was held. He knew it was past curfew, but that was just one of the perks of being Head Boy, he could just say he was doing rounds if he was caught. Just outside the door he checked the Marauders' Map, James merely made sure that none of the teachers were randomly using the room. This was becoming way too easy, even Evans was two floors below him in the Charms corridor on the ground floor. _What was the point in sneaking around if the adrenaline inducing factor disappeared?_

"Alohamora."

The door to the teachers' lounge faintly clicked open and James stepped inside, closing the door behind him. The room was pitch black and empty, so he quietly whispered: "Lumos."

The room around him was spacious and the familiar stone walls were covered with tapestries that looked as old as Dumbledore himself. In the center there was a large mahogany table with at least a dozen cushioned dining chairs. There were plush couches and armchairs lining the walls with candles scattered around the entire room. Bookshelves, teacups and teapots overflowed from the couple of shelves that were scattered here and there and were made from the same mahogany as the table and dining chairs. On one of the many end tables James finally saw what he was looking for: the reservation book.

Thankfully the pitch was still available for tomorrow, he was the only captain dedicated enough to book tryouts on the second week back to school. James thanked Merlin that he had already asked his old teammates and other acquaintances to spread the word. A day's warning would have been a bit too difficult. Seeing as everyone already knew about the tryouts the only matter left was using the quill next to the book to reserve the pitch starting at 8am on Saturday for Gryffindor.

The grandfather clock at the end of the room suddenly started chiming. He had taken longer in the room than he had originally thought, it was already 10.30pm and James was late to meeting Sirius and Peter in front of the great oak doors of the castle. Thankfully it was still relatively light out, the moon had not risen yet and if he hurried, the boys would be in time for Remus's transformation.

Sirius and Peter had taken his Invisibility Cloak earlier that day just in case a situation like this arose. James quickly turned out his light, left the room and started sprinting towards the Entrance Hall. If he used the right combination of secret passageways, he would be down the three stories...

"Hey Potter, what the hell are you doing here?!"

...in no time.

"Uhm I was just..." _Come on, idiot! You are supposed to be the one who always gets Sirius out of trouble - not the other way around! _"... checking that the, the … doors are locked!" James kicked himself mentally for the worst excuse in the history of excuses.

Lily looked around clearly confused, letting Nathan wrap his arm around her waist, "What doors?"

"The front doors, of course" _Okay what is going on, why would you get an urgent need to check the front doors? Think, James. Think! _

_Oh god she is pretty._

"I can't believe you! You honestly thought that I'd fall for that!" James could see the all too familiar fire growing in her eyes. _Nice job, real good. Now she's mad and not just mad, pissed - nice._

"What? I haven't done anything wrong!"  
"But you were going to! That's all you ever do!"

"Nice, Evans. Nothing's ever good enough for you, is it? No matter how hard I'd try to help you with the Heads' stuff all you do is scream and point a finger at me." James felt them slip back into their old roles. The ones he had hoped to already be behind them.

"And how is that my fault?" Lily's fists were pressed against her sides as she tried to hold back her anger and frustration.

"Well, I know it isn't mine. Since we began this blaming - loosening up couldn't hurt you."  
"Like I could do that! You have loosened up for both of us."

James chuckled to himself, "Well I can't argue with that."  
"You find this FUNNY?"

"No, I'm sorry. I just really don't have time for this now."

"Oh I'm sorry, am I making you late for one of your appointments in a broom closet?"

"Yeah, sure Evans. That's it. Now if you'd excuse me..."

James could feel her eyes penetrating his back as he strolled casually towards the next corner. Passing one of the larger windows in that corridor James noticed two dark figures disappearing between the thick roots of the Whomping Willow._ Bloody hell, I'm so late._


End file.
